Lisa Thomas
Jazz and Modern Faculty / Outreach Coordinator
Thomas teaches Horton-based Modern, Jazz, Improvisation, Body Conditioning at Virginia School of the Arts. Thomas is the Outreach Coordinator and the Musical Theatre Broadway Bound faculty member as well. In 2008 Thomas obtained her MFA degree from Hollins University/American Dance Festival under a fellowship. She has innovated original solo works with the multi-media production OmniCircus led by Frank Garvey in San Fransico, California. Thomas was a principal dancer with the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble of Denver, Colorado for five years where she had the honor of working with such legends as Katherine Dunham, Talley Beatty, Milton Myers, David Rousseve, Donald Byrd, Ron K. Brown, Dianne McIntyre and Donald McKayle. Thomas enjoys sharing her love of dance with other cultures. She has studied the dance forms of India, Chile, Africa and the USA. Thomas performed her Kathakli Arangetam in Kerala, India in 2000. Before returning to her home state of Virginia, she taught dance in to public school children in New York City for Jacques d'Amboise's National Dance Institute for two years. She has been a Guest Teacher at Virginia Governor's School for the Arts(Norfolk), Radford University, Sweet Briar College, University of Virginia and the Roanoke Ballet Theatre, as well as the Regional High School Dance Festivals. She holds a BA in Dance from the University of Colorado, Boulder.